Books
It’s definitely worth trying to grab hold of Letting Go
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, according to the old song (and film). And it most definitely is in Letting Go: A Timeline of Tales, by Gerda Stevenson. The Twelve Stories in Letting Go take us on a journey through landscape, language and turbulent times, from the mid-19th century to the present day, and into the…
Read MoreScotland’s capital shown literally in a different light
When people visit Scotland, something they always notice is the weather. You can never quite guarantee that it will be the same two days in a row – look at the past week, for example – heavy rain and wind on Saturday, and Sunday was like a cool summer’s day. This inclement weather has been…
Read MoreLive crime fiction festival returned to Scotland
The sixth outing of Granite Noir, Aberdeen’s International Crime Writing Festival, came to a close last night. Organisers were delighted with the success of the Festival, which returned to Aberdeen with a packed programme of sold‐out, live, in‐person events, workshops and performances. Granite Noir enjoyed an attendance of almost 7,000 together with an additional 3,000…
Read MoreA mystery with a hint of some Gothic romance
Author Gillian Galbraith is one of the gems of Tartan Noir. As a writer, her Alice Rice mystery series has been crtically acclaimed, and, during the first lockdown in 2020, her library eBook borrowings outstripped Hilary Mantel, Michelle Obama and Sally Rooney – in the top ten, the first novel in the series Blood in…
Read MoreThe story of the man who hunted Nessie
The Man Who Filmed Nessie is as much the story of the Dinsdale family as it is a history of the legend of a monster in the waters of Loch Ness. The author’s father was Tim Dinsdale, an aeronautical engineer who, over the space of 27 years, undertook 57 expeditions in search of Nessie. Whether…
Read MoreA cookbook with Scottish-Italian heart
Carini Contini was born in Edinburgh. Her parents were Scottish and Italian. With her husband Victor, she currently runs two successful restaurants in the capital and lives and breathes food. This book is a cookbook and much more. It is the story of a family of foodies and the creation of the Contini’s kitchen garden…
Read MoreA trip doon the watter that may float your boat
The west of Scotland sense of humour is a creature in its own right. And if you’re a fan of the likes of Tony Roper and Dorothy Paul, the Kerryoans up the Clyde! is definitely the book for you. This book, illustrated by Bob Dewar, recounts the adventures of a vessel full of character with…
Read MoreA magical collection of 36 short stories
The garden is an oasis, a pocket of nature in our busy modern lives, full of plants, animals, insects – and a fair bit of magic. And it’s somewhere that, just behind that rock, or underneath a flower, there could be something magical or mystical: a fairy, an elf or a talking bee. Folk Tales…
Read MoreWhy Scottish style is an international trendsetter
As a nation, Scotland has had an impeccable sense of haute couture through the ages. How Scotland Dressed The World is author Lynne Coleman’s love letter to the nation that gives us the blueprint for international style, as she explores the country’s rich cultural impact on the modern world. Lynne knows her stuff, as an…
Read MoreA gripping read will chill you to the bones
Just five pages in, writer Helen Grant’s prose sets the heart racing. She depicts a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare, fromwhich point the reader is constantly on edge. Protagonist Fen Munro has moved to erthshire with her fiancé to escape London’s rat-race, only to find they are being watched by a figure dressed in lavender. Barr Dubh,…
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